From his Wikipedia:
Illness and death
On August 31, 2023, Van Der Beek was diagnosed with colorectal cancer; he did not make his diagnosis public until November 2024. He stated that he had “been privately dealing with this diagnosis and [has] been taking steps to resolve it” with the support of his family.[42] In November 2025, he announced that he would be auctioning items from Dawson’s Creek and Varsity Blues to help cover costs associated with his cancer treatment.[43]
Van Der Beek died on February 11, 2026, at the age of 48.[1][37]
Emphasis mine. Fuck cancer and fuck for-profit healthcare even more. RIP
I think this ought to put it into perspective. This guy at one time was a very successful actor in movies and TV, granted he wasn’t in much recently that I’m aware of. He was still estimated to have a net worth of several million dollars at the time of his death.
If he had to resort to selling his personal items to cover his cancer treatment, what hope do the rest of us have?
I’m currently staying with my well-off aunt and uncle in southern California, because my uncle just had open heart surgery in January. It cost them (and insurance) $460,000 for his surgery.
My aunt was diagnosed with and beat breast cancer a couple years ago. One of her regular treatments that she still needs to go in for every week costs her $6,000.
It doesn’t hurt that her parents were extremely wealthy and owned all kinds of land and property and left almost all of it to her and my uncle, but still.
Oh shit, that sucks.
He was hilarious in Don’t Trust the B. It takes a special type of person to make fun of themself that way.
That’s young, and he seemed cool. RIP.
Cancer. Such a bitch it is.
And not a cool bitch like the one in apartment 23
